Top 10 Album Challenge

Back in July while I was in Washington, I took the "Top 10 Album Challenge".  Since I didn't elaborate fully on why each album was one of my favorites, I'd like to do that in this week's blog post.  I have included artwork for each album to make it easier to find on your streaming services or You Tube, and also my favorite song from each album.

These are not ranked in order from 1 to 10, but I'm sure you'll be able to tell which ones are my favorites out of the ten listed here.

Artist: Zac Brown Band

Album Title: Jekyll & Hyde

Album Release Date: April 28th, 2015

Discovered By Me: May 2016

Favorite Track: Loving You Easy

On "Jekyll & Hyde", the Zac Brown Band truly took genre mashing to the next level, with tracks that both scratch the surface and cut deep across the genres of country, americana, jazz, and even a little bit of hard rock and roll.  They pulled out all the stops, and while a good chunk of their fans disliked the album strongly, it's my favorite out of what they've released so far!  You can hear so much in one album, as it spans a wide range of emotions.  There's a song about a soldier losing the battle overseas (Dress Blues), a song about a father loving his young daughter (I'll Be Your Man (A Song For A Daughter)), and even a good foot stomping tune about being thankful for what you have (Homegrown).  There's songs on this album that I still listen to on a regular basis and can connect with and appreciate, which is why I'll be listening to it for a long time to come, and also why it made this list. 

Artist: Passenger

Album Title: Whispers II

Album Release Date: April 19th, 2015

Discovered By Me: March 2017

Favorite Track: David

Passenger has never been a man to write songs that seem extremely happy.  On all of his albums that I've listened to, there seems to be a vast majority of tracks that focus on the down notes of love and loss.  On this album, there's a track about letting go of someone we love or used to love (A Thousand Matches), a deeper cut about finding a now homeless man who used to have it all, but the world changed around him (David), and a track that details the various times Passenger has met someone (Words).  This album has more somber notes than happy, but it's a very beautiful album to listen to, and that's why it made this list.

Artist: AJR

Album Title: The Click

Album Release Date: June 9th, 2017

Discovered By Me: March 2018

Favorite Track: Turning Out

When AJR released their album "Living Room" in late 2014, I didn't pay much attention to it for the sole fact that I found leadoff single "I'm Ready" to be rather annoying.  I had thought that they were a one and done band, but when doing a volunteer shift for KNNZ back in March, I discovered that I was quite wrong, and that AJR was back and going strong with a brand new album titled "The Click".  This album to me is so many things.  It's an anthem about wanting to be young again (Sober Up & Netflix Trip), a love ballad with feel and emotion (Turning Out), and beautifully diverse instrumentation (Overture & Bud Like You).  Some have said that this album tries to be too many things at once, but I most certainly disagree. 

Artist: Walk Off The Earth

Album Title: Sing It All Away

Album Release Date: June 16th, 2015

Discovered By Me: May 2017

Favorite Track: Climb Out Your Window

I had to do a double take when I saw a band called "Walk Off The Earth" on a KNDS Morning Show playlist last year.  The band name sounded so familiar, but I felt like I maybe hadn't heard of them before.  I checked out the album, and instantly fell in love.  There's an anthem about getting your music heard (Climb Out Your Window), a ballad about the power of song (Sing It All Away), and even a track about home (Home We'll Go (Take My Hand)).  It's something very different, and if you listen to this album and like it as much as I did, you'll most certainly enjoy their other material as well.

Artist: The Head and The Heart

Album Title: Signs of Light

Album Release Date: September 9th, 2016

Discovered By Me: January 2017

Favorite Track: Rhythm & Blues

The Head & The Heart has warmed their way into my heart rather easily over the past two years.  It was on a cold night in January driving back from Bemidji when I first turned on KNDS and heard "Library Magic" blasting through my car's radio, and I fell in love with the folksy track.  Since then, I've gone through most of the album, and there is so much to enjoy on it, including a sweet little track about a father and daughter (Your Mother's Eyes), a party anthem (All We Ever Knew), and even a peppy song about a favorite place to go (City of Angels).  This album is definitely worth your time. 

Artist: Rend Collective

Album Title: Campfire

Album Release Date: January 29th, 2013

Discovered By Me: January 2016

Favorite Track: 10,000 Reasons

Irish folk worship band Rend Collective will most likely always be my top artist in the Christian contemporary genre.  They take instrumentation to a whole new level every time, and what started as some drum programming and little toy instruments about seven years ago has now grown into full blown percussion, banjo, and even some keytar all mixing in to create a style similar to the folk artists I listen to currently.  This album was their first live release, and I really appreciate how they chose to go outside on a beach and literally light a fire and play around it versus recording one of their concerts or playing in a coffeehouse and recording that instead.  There's songs about coming together to worship (Come On My Soul & Build Your Kingdom Here), a track about redemption (Second Chance), and even some very nicely done praise songs (Alabaster & 10,000 Reasons).  When you listen to this album, you'll truly understand the magic and wonder that is Rend Collective.

Artist: Mercy Me

Album Title: Welcome To The New

Album Release Date: April 8th, 2014

Discovered By Me: July 2015

Favorite Track: Dear Younger Me

Mercy Me follows right behind Rend Collective as my second favorite Christian contemporary band.  They put a lot of heart into their lyrics against a pop rock sound track, and it works so well.  They've put out quite a few albums over the years, but this one is by far my favorite, even compared to last year's "Lifer".  There's tracks about redemption in God's eyes (Flawless), a reflective song on what the singer wishes he could tell his younger self (Dear Younger Me), and a song that reminds you a bit of the Old West (Greater).  There are a few other songs on the album I enjoy, but those three, especially Dear Younger Me with it's drum pattern that you'll hear directly at the start of the song.  That's why it made this list.

Artist: Brad Paisley

Album Title: This Is Country Music

Album Release Date: May 23rd, 2011

Discovered By Me: May 2011

Favorite Track: This Is Country Music

Country music artist Brad Paisley was an artist I really enjoyed listening to during my late elementary and early high school years.  Following his album "Wheelhouse", I feel that his songs took a dive in quality and so I stopped listening to his new releases, but I will check them out someday.  This album was released just as I was getting out of the seventh grade, and when I was watching the CMA Awards for the first time in November 2010, I heard the title track for the first time and absolutely enjoyed it, so much that I'm still shocked it only peaked at number 2 on the charts and didn't make that final leap to number 1, though I'm not too sore about it.  The singles that Paisley released to radio off this album are some of my favorite all time Brad Paisley songs, especially the aforementioned title track and "Remind Me" his duet with Carrie Underwood.  If you need a good laugh, I also recommend checking out the duet with Blake Shelton (Don't Drink The Water).  The video to the title track's appearance at the CMA Awards is linked below.  This album is included just because of the fact that it always made me happy when I listened to it back in the day.

Artist: Dan Wilson

Album Title: Re-Covered

Album Release Date: August 4th, 2017

Discovered By Me: August 2017

Favorite Track: When The Stars Come Out

Semisonic's lead vocalist Dan Wilson has been a busy man.  He's been spending time writing songs for other artists and bands.  So I'm sure to some it came as no surprise when he released this collection of songs he's written last year, all preformed by him though instead of the original artist.  You'll hear Wilson preform tracks from The Dixie Chicks, Adele, Dierks Bentley, and Semisonic among others.  In my humble opinion, the singles released prior to the album's official release are the best tracks on the album, and if you're curious those tracks are "Someone Like You", "Home", and "When The Stars Come Out".  Other great tracks would be "Never Meant To Love You" and "Closing Time."  It was a tricky experiment to do a full album of covers, but Wilson pulls it off amazingly.  You will love this album the first time you hear it!

Artist: Lord Huron

Album Title: Lonesome Dreams

Album Release Date: October 8th, 2012

Discovered By Me: February 2018

Favorite Track: Lullaby

It was a cold February night at the bowling alley when I discovered folk-rock band Lord Huron earlier this year.  Someone just happened to play them on the jukebox, and I loved what I was hearing.  I've since checked out tracks from all of their albums, including their release from this year ("Vide Noir"), but this album as a whole is my favorite.  A lot of the tracks are on the sad side, but there are also happier ones.  And I have to commend their diverse instrumentation.  You'll hear the xylophone and also some steel guitar, and some of the orchestral string instruments.  Believe me when I say that you should check this album out.  You will not regret it!

Do you have a favorite album?  Share in the comments!